GPSpeak RSS feed

International comparative studies put Australia near the top of OECD nations for health care systems. The 2017 Commonwealth Fund study ranked Australia second after the UK, using five parameters. We led the other countries on administrative efficiency and health care outcomes, and ranked second on “care process”.

Health has been the fastest growing sector in the economy for over 15 years, accounting for 10% of GDP and 13% of the total workforce. Despite this, government health care expenditure is only slightly above the OECD average.

A few days after the Lismore script-in-hand reading of a play about bullying and other abuses faced by health care professionals, the NSW government released a damning survey showing the state’s public health system is stricken with exactly the problems discussed in the play.Grace Under Pressure was developed from in-depth interviews with doctors and nurses about their experiences of training and working in hospitals. It was written and directed by David Williams, with dramaturg Paul Dwyer, in collaboration with the Sydney Arts & Health Collective.

A NSW government survey of more than 65,600 public health employees has reported a “toxic culture of bullying and harassment” that has seen more than one-in-three staff witnessing bullying in the past year, one-in-five (over 13,700 health workers) experiencing bullying behaviour, and one-in-20 being subjected to physical harm and/or sexual harassment or abuse at work. These alarming statistics were reported in the health cluster focus of the NSW Public Service Commission’s “People Matter Employee Survey 2018”. However, according to NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard the results were “better than ever” [dropping four percentage points since 2016] but showed “more needs to be done’’.

From just one page of today’s paper I learn that two young Queenslanders were busted carrying 18 MDMA tablets to the ‘Rabbits Eat Lettuce’ bush-doof near Casino, while police were investigating the discovery of a 20kg package of cocaine found floating off the coast near South West Rocks.And that’s just locally.

‘Heart and Soul’, a spectacular photographic portrait exhibition, was a highlight of 2018 at Lismore Regional Gallery. Between them, locals Peter Derrett OAM and Jacklyn Wagner have documented life in the Northern Rivers for almost 80 years. Always an aficionado of theatre, Peter Derrett kicked off his photographic career by documenting the legendary 1973 Aquarius Festival in Nimbin. In his ‘day job’ he was a highly regarded drama and English teacher at Trinity Catholic College for 36 years, establishing the Theatre North company with his wife Dr Ros Derrett OAM in 1981.